Conceptual perfumery is probably the most ambitious and creative kind, which also makes it the riskiest. Zoologist is a house that excels at risk-taking, with a range devoted to the cognitive construct of animals, their habitats, and their behaviors. Tiger, released in 2023 by perfumer Cristiano Canali, is one of the more conceptual fragrances in the line; it eschews any direct "animalism" associated with its namesake cat, and instead adumbrates the grassy-woody environs of predator and prey, an interesting exercise.
It is indeed more of a vague sketch than a refined picture, and I find myself enjoying one half far more than the other. Throughout each wearing of Tiger, I kept reminding myself to shelve my bias against vetiver, but the struggle is real. The fragrance opens with a clever and inarguably successful interplay of kumquat, carrot seed (sweet woodiness), and saffron (spiced woodiness). The fruit note is playful and transparent, while the rest smells dry and demure, and this accord of conjoined polarities is brightly modern yet classical in effect. The saffron takes center stage in the first hour, and its delicate intricacies are relaxing and hold attention. Well conceived, and very nice.
Then the vetiver sneaks in, as all vetivers do, and relaxation shifts to annoyance. It's an impenetrable wall of Haitian vetiver, super dry, nutty-earthy, very smoky, dark, and incredibly boring. The smoky earthiness holds in linear fashion for no less than eight hours, by which point I want to scrub and move on to something more cheerful. I've been told that Cristiano and Victor Wong consulted at length on how to make Tiger work, and hit several roadblocks along the way. Had I been there, I would've suggested omitting the vetiver entirely and focusing more on the woodier and greener aspects of saffron. But hey, the finished product is catnip for vetiver lovers, so I'll butt out.